Chicago salvages weekend road-home split

Butler rescues Bulls

Caption

(Nam Y. Huh)

Bulls guard Nate Robinson (left) passes around the Pistons' Jose Calderon during the first half Sunday in Chicago. The Bulls won 95-94, salvaging a weekend split after falling to the Mavericks 100-98 on Saturday in Dallas. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

By Teddy Greenstein
Chicago Tribune

A few hours after kids in Chicago searched for the Easter Bunny, the Bulls were desperate to find an Energizer bunny.

That’s when Jimmy Butler appeared, intercepting a pass from the Pistons’ Kim English early in the fourth quarter. Butler slammed one down to tie the game at 78, after the Bulls had trailed for nearly 40 minutes.

“The credit goes to Nate [Robinson],” Butler said. “His ball pressure is what caused it – and made it easier to read that passing lane. If I could, I’d give him an assist on that stat sheet.”

Numerous players had to contribute to allow the Bulls to escape with a 95-94 victory. It was their 18th consecutive win over the Pistons, who fell to 1-13 in March.

“This was big, because we know that team is desperate to get wins,” Robinson said. “They were going to play hard and free.”

The win was also big because it came on the heels of Saturday night’s 100-98 loss to the Mavericks – a game in which the Bulls blew a big lead and missed key free throws down the stretch as Dallas closed with a 15-1 run over the final 4 minutes, 8 seconds. Dirk Nowitzki (35 points) hit three 3-pointers in the final 55 seconds – including the game-winner with 2.9 seconds left – to offset 25-point efforts from Robinson, Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer.

Sunday’s game was tight until the end. The Bulls took the lead for good when Deng (game-high 28 points) followed a Robinson miss for a 94-91 advantage.

“We dodged a bullet; we’re fortunate,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “In the end, we were just trying to find a way. I thought the key thing was the hustle plays ... and right now, we need everybody.”